Ministry Partnerships Manager
Cambridge, England, United Kingdom Full-time Posted 1 week ago
Job Title: Ministry Partnerships Manager
Salary: £35,200 -£45,700 per annum
Location: The Triangle - Cambridge
Contract: Secondment/FTC maternity cover until end of July 2027
Hours: Full time, permanent, 35 hours per week
Working with Governments, Ministries of Education and National Examinations across the world
We are Cambridge University Press & Assessment, a world-leading academic publisher and assessment organisation and a proud part of the University of Cambridge.
As a member of the Ministry Partnerships Team, you will act as an umbilical link between a range of international clients and internal Cambridge University Press & Assessment departments and teams. Your drive, diplomacy and high levels of customer service will continue to inform how Cambridge supports these long-standing partners to navigate their own education and assessment journey.
About The Role
The Ministry Partnerships Manager's main responsibility is to manage client contracts, building an excellent relationship with clients and coordinating work across teams to ensure we provide excellent service.
Additional responsibilities and accountabilities include:
About You
You are likely to have experience in a complex customer-facing and contract management role in an international setting with either direct experience of, or deep interest, in education development and assessment practice.
Essential Knowledge
Key competencies (organisational values)
We are a Disability Confident (DC) employer that is committed to equality and inclusion ensuring our recruitment process is accessible to all. The DC scheme's Offer of an Interview commitment applies to applicants who opt in, and disclose a disability or a long-term health condition, and who best meet the minimum criteria for the role. In instances where interviewing all qualifying candidates is not practicable and/or appropriate, we prioritise those who best meet the minimum criteria, as we would for applicants who do not have a disability or long-term health condition.
Please note that Cambridge University Press & Assessment will not ordinarily be able to provide sponsorship for vacancies of less than 12-months in duration. Applicants must therefore have an existing right to work in the UK to be eligible for this position.
Rewards And Benefits
We will support you to be at your best in work and to live well outside of it. In addition to competitive salaries, we offer a world-class, flexible rewards package, featuring family-friendly and planet-friendly benefits including:
We aim to support candidates by making our interview process clear and transparent. The closing date for all applications will be Monday 15th June 2026. We will review applications on an ongoing basis, and shortlisted candidates can expect interviews to take place week commencing 29th June 2026.
If you are shortlisted and progressed through the stages, you can expect:
Please note that successful applicants will be subject to satisfactory background checks including DBS due to working in a regulated industry.
We are committed to an equitable recruitment process. As such, applications must be submitted via our official online application procedure. Please refrain from sending your CV directly to our recruiters. If you experience technical difficulties or require additional support with submitting your online application, contact the Recruiter.
Why join us
Joining us is your opportunity to pursue potential. You will belong to a collaborative team that is exploring new and better ways to serve students, teachers and researchers across the globe – for the benefit of individuals, society and the world. Sharing our mission will inspire your own growth, development and progress, in an environment which embraces difference, change and aspiration.
Cambridge University Press & Assessment is committed to being a place where anyone can enjoy a successful career, where it is safe to speak up, and where we learn continuously to improve together. We welcome applications from all candidates, regardless of demographic characteristics (age, disability, educational attainment, ethnicity, gender, marital status, neurodiversity, religion, sex, gender identity and sexual identity), cultural, or social class/background.
We believe better outcomes come through diversity of thought, background and approach. We welcome applications from people from all backgrounds and communities, actively seeking to employ people from a wide range of different communities.
Salary: £35,200 -£45,700 per annum
Location: The Triangle - Cambridge
Contract: Secondment/FTC maternity cover until end of July 2027
Hours: Full time, permanent, 35 hours per week
Working with Governments, Ministries of Education and National Examinations across the world
We are Cambridge University Press & Assessment, a world-leading academic publisher and assessment organisation and a proud part of the University of Cambridge.
As a member of the Ministry Partnerships Team, you will act as an umbilical link between a range of international clients and internal Cambridge University Press & Assessment departments and teams. Your drive, diplomacy and high levels of customer service will continue to inform how Cambridge supports these long-standing partners to navigate their own education and assessment journey.
About The Role
The Ministry Partnerships Manager's main responsibility is to manage client contracts, building an excellent relationship with clients and coordinating work across teams to ensure we provide excellent service.
Additional responsibilities and accountabilities include:
- Produce effective plans and schedules for the delivery of work. If appropriate, manage dependencies between teams.
- Lead on training delivery for your contracts and ensure effective delivery in various formats.
- Assist Senior Ministry Partnerships Managers and the Head of Ministry Partnerships
- Lead or contribute to relevant Working Groups.
- Chair the Annual Review Meetings for the contracts you manage, oversee the production of the minutes and contribute to Annual Review meetings of any other contracts you work on.
- Contribute to the overall relationship management by building effective relations with clients, partner organisations and internal delivery teams.
- Provide effective written and verbal communications with all stakeholders (the client, senior teams, across Cambridge and partner organisations, etc).
- Carry out research on the national education systems and developments of countries you work on and provide updated reports when required.
- Lead and support activities around evaluation of contract deliverables, risk management and lessons learned.
About You
You are likely to have experience in a complex customer-facing and contract management role in an international setting with either direct experience of, or deep interest, in education development and assessment practice.
Essential Knowledge
- Knowledge of proven project management methodologies and concepts
- Knowledge and experience of cost and budget management
- Educated to a degree level or equivalent experience.
- Background / interest in international education and educational assessment
- Strong communication and interpersonal skills, with the ability to build relationships and work collaboratively in a team.
- Excellent planning and organisational skills with attention to detail, including the ability to prioritise and schedule workloads effectively.
- Experience of working in an international context and having cross-cultural awareness and diplomacy with a customer service focus.
- Project management experience, including the ability to deliver projects using project management methodologies.
- Managing technical teams and resources.
- Financial acumen and analytical skills to effectively manage budgets, track finances and report on financial performance.
- High proficient in written and spoken English
Key competencies (organisational values)
- Responsible: Ability to self-manage, highly pro-active with a positive ‘can do' attitude
- Innovative: Adaptable, flexible, and innovative
- Empowerment: Dedication to delivering a high-quality service with excellent customer service skills.
- Collaboration: Builds excellent working relationships internally and with clients
- Works independently, plans and monitors work and hits deadlines
- Varies pace of work to suit business needs
- Keeps line manager informed on progress
- Have a problem solving, business analysis approach with attention to detail
- Achieving– being responsive, decisive and accountable to further our mission
- Inspiring– role models optimism, motivation, authenticity
- Inclusive– curious, open minded, and ready to learn from others
- Trusted & trusting– enables individuals, teams and organisations to collaborate with integrity
- Confidence with humility– has confidence in her/his abilities, with the willingness to learn and adapt
We are a Disability Confident (DC) employer that is committed to equality and inclusion ensuring our recruitment process is accessible to all. The DC scheme's Offer of an Interview commitment applies to applicants who opt in, and disclose a disability or a long-term health condition, and who best meet the minimum criteria for the role. In instances where interviewing all qualifying candidates is not practicable and/or appropriate, we prioritise those who best meet the minimum criteria, as we would for applicants who do not have a disability or long-term health condition.
Please note that Cambridge University Press & Assessment will not ordinarily be able to provide sponsorship for vacancies of less than 12-months in duration. Applicants must therefore have an existing right to work in the UK to be eligible for this position.
Rewards And Benefits
We will support you to be at your best in work and to live well outside of it. In addition to competitive salaries, we offer a world-class, flexible rewards package, featuring family-friendly and planet-friendly benefits including:
- 28 days annual leave plus bank holidays
- Private medical and Permanent Health Insurance
- Discretionary annual bonus
- Group personal pension scheme
- Life assurance up to 4 x annual salary
- Green travel schemes
We aim to support candidates by making our interview process clear and transparent. The closing date for all applications will be Monday 15th June 2026. We will review applications on an ongoing basis, and shortlisted candidates can expect interviews to take place week commencing 29th June 2026.
If you are shortlisted and progressed through the stages, you can expect:
- First stage virtual interview via MS Teams. You will be provided with a brief to complete a role related task which will need to be returned by email in advance of your interview.
- Final stage interview: in-person at our offices in Cambridge.
Please note that successful applicants will be subject to satisfactory background checks including DBS due to working in a regulated industry.
We are committed to an equitable recruitment process. As such, applications must be submitted via our official online application procedure. Please refrain from sending your CV directly to our recruiters. If you experience technical difficulties or require additional support with submitting your online application, contact the Recruiter.
Why join us
Joining us is your opportunity to pursue potential. You will belong to a collaborative team that is exploring new and better ways to serve students, teachers and researchers across the globe – for the benefit of individuals, society and the world. Sharing our mission will inspire your own growth, development and progress, in an environment which embraces difference, change and aspiration.
Cambridge University Press & Assessment is committed to being a place where anyone can enjoy a successful career, where it is safe to speak up, and where we learn continuously to improve together. We welcome applications from all candidates, regardless of demographic characteristics (age, disability, educational attainment, ethnicity, gender, marital status, neurodiversity, religion, sex, gender identity and sexual identity), cultural, or social class/background.
We believe better outcomes come through diversity of thought, background and approach. We welcome applications from people from all backgrounds and communities, actively seeking to employ people from a wide range of different communities.
